


Snow White and the seven dwarves

by Lady_heartless



Series: Devildom fairytales [1]
Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: F/M, Gen, Love at First Sight, Obey me au, Solomon is still a lil shit, Solomon still has magical powers, but I love him anyway, fairytale AU. Disney references and game references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23111986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_heartless/pseuds/Lady_heartless
Summary: Obey me! Fairytale AU.What happens when the charming prince is not interested in the princess but in someone older and the princess joins to a bandit group to save her people? Chaos. Add also a powerful magician that, after making a pact with the villain and, lost all of his powers, is cured by a pure soul. Now shake it off and you have this fanfiction ;)
Relationships: Asmodeus (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) & Reader, Beelzebub (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) & Reader, Belphegor (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) & Reader, Leviathan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Reader, Lucifer (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Reader, Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Reader, Satan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) & Reader, Solomon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Reader
Series: Devildom fairytales [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1661251
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, being an AU the characters will have a different attitude, even if I tried to keep them more similar to the game.
> 
> Ps. This work is to celebrate the twins bday

Hello, my dear and brave readers who are going to read this story, my name is Diavolo and I'm the storyteller of this odd fairytale. I'm sure all of you, from the youngest to the eldest, listened to stories before falling asleep, so you'll immediately recognize this tale.  
Our story, similar to many, has a princess kissed by the misfortune, a charming prince, an evil villain determined to win pm over the princess; but don't be fooled by the appearances, because this story will be quite different from the one you know.  
Once upon a time, in a faraway Country, there was a peaceful realm where it reigned the harmony. It was very small, but the king had never thought to conquer other territories and he was loved by the people. When he was young, he couldn't find a suitable woman to marry, so he summoned a powerful wizard, begging him to find the perfect woman.  
And right in front of his eyes, the mage created from the soil a beautiful woman. She had marvelous black hair slightly curly and her eyes were brown, almost gold. I had the luck to meet her when she was alive and I can assure you how she was gentle and caring towards the others. She was also really accultured and really clever, more than you can think. That mage created the perfect human being.  
As soon as the young king saw her, he fell in love with her and asked her to marry him, but the wizard advised him, telling that what is soil will return soil and there was a price for his magic.  
The man and the woman get married the same month and the celebration was so magnificent that poets wrote poetry and ballads about it. On such a joyful day everyone was happy, except Grimhilde an old acquaintance of king. She was greedy and she craved to be queen, but that day she saw all of her dreams shattered.  
Well, if the throne was already occupied, the matter was killing the owner. She though. And she planned a way to get away with the murder: she had to become the queen's closest friend and once she would trust her enough, poisoning her would have been a joke.  
The time passed and Grimhilde achieved her plan: in almost a year she was the most trusted person of the queen. But the day she tried to poison her something strange happened: the Queen was still alive. She was out of her mind for the rage and asked herself what went gone: she made herself the deadliest poison she could think of and she poured it in her drink. Then why she was still alive?  
"My, my, why you look so upset?" asked a male voice out of the blue. Grimhilde gasped as she saw a white haired boy floating on the hair with a flying broom. "Who are you?" asked and the boy answered:"I'm a mage called Solomon, but mage is fine for you. Why are you so frustrated? I can help you to deal with your problem, under an appropriate reward, obviously". She knew was too reckless to speak about her plan with a suspicious guy like him, but the words flowed out from his mouth before she could stop them.  
"I see, what a troublesome woman. There is a very simple thing you didn't consider: a poison works only on human beings" he answered, "What are you saying? Do you imply she's not human? Don't joke!" she scolded him. "Mine is not a teasing. Anyway, don't forget this information has a price" Solomon bickered, "Don't be absurd! I won't pay for a joke" she protested and the mage grinned:"Today I feel particularly generous, so I'll wait until you'll recognize I was serious, but the price'll be higher". And he evanescent, leaving an anguished Grimhilde behind.  
More time passed since their meeting and she noticed there was something strange about the queen: her skin wasn't soft as she expected. It was hard as a pot and her face was cracked, almost like she was made by clay and now was going to tear apart. Another day she noticed the royal bed was full of brown dust. Maybe the mage told her the truth. She didn't have the time to consider that option that he popped in her sight.  
She admitted:"You were right: she's not human at all" and Solomon chuckled:"Of course I was right: I created her by myself. You know, my job is helping people to realize their wishes: for example your king asked me to find him a proper wife and I created her".  
She was always more suspicious, but now she was in debt with him, so she wondered:"How many coins do you want?", the wizard smirked as she played with his long hair:"I have never spoken about money, have I? The price for answering to your question the last time is your beauty: you will age very slowly, but when the time will come, I'll take it away and your true age will be revealed". And he handed her a book. "You see this? It is a magic book. I lend you this for the time of our agreement. In the meantime you can do whatever you desire: you are an interesting person and I think watching you from afar will amuse me " he explained.  
"What about the queen?" she asked, "Don't worry, what is soil will return soil. She will endure a year, then... pouf, she will vanish" he answered.  
The wizard was right another time, the woman witnessed: a year and six months later, the queen vanished as she didn't exist at all. But what the mage forgot to say was that she left a brat. His father named her Snow White and she was the exact copy of her mother.  
The destiny wanted that, in the same period, a male was born in a near country. And the two kings decided to combine the marriage between the little prince and the little princess, not knowing what the fate planned. So the princess kissed by the misfortune and the charming prince met each other for the first time when they only had six months. Remember what I said before start: this is not a conventional tale and the protagonists will show you... Their particular tastes about love.  
And I sigh thinking about how easier would be my job if a bored and spiteful child would have thought about more relaxing and less dangerous hobbies than making pacts with people. Probably the king would had remained a ruler loved by his people, Grimhilde would had never been the queen and Snow White she would had never joined a little group of bandits; but I'll tell you later about this.


	2. A peculiar way to meet someone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are eighteen years later the even in the prologue and the princess meets the prince... In a peculiar way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kind words received in the last chapter: english is not my first language so have mercy when I don't write correctly

Grimhilde in a couple of two years managed to become the queen: when the wizard paid her visit to claim his payoff, he gave her a magical book. She found a recipe for a love filter and gave it to the king. But when the two of them got married, the king's behavior changed drastically: if the man was honest and kind hearted after he became greedy and cruel. The people were impoverished, forced to pay too many taxes and who couldn't pay began to still. There were also some voices about a group made of bandits living in the woods.  
But how was Snow White? In eighteen years she became really beautiful, one of the most good looking women in the realm, to a mirror's opinion, and the and was thinking to formalize the engagement with the prince. The discussion in the council room was about this topic. "I don't want to marry someone I don't even know!" she exclaimed livelily and the king argued back:"You can't oppose my will. This is my reign, my castle and what I say is the law!". "I don't care about your law. I do what I want and if I say I don't want to marry him, I won't" the princess yelled at his father as she went out of the room.  
The king, exhausted, sat to his throne and rubbed his temples. Why was so tiring raising a woman?  
"What's the matter, my king?" asked Grimhilde as she approached him, "My daughter is really troublesome, Grimhilde. I don't know what to do anymore" the king sighed. "You are right. She's so undisciplined, but don't worry: the prince is in his way to come here, just  
as you requested" she consoled him.  
Snow White was in the kitchen as she complained about her situation with the maids. Her feelings were so messed up that she couldn't understand them: she was angry with his father and with the prince for the marriage, but she felt sad for her future husband, after all he was forced too.  
One of the maids suggested:"Why don't you go to the city for a while? I'm sure this will help you to feel more relaxed", "That's a wonderful idea! If I'm not wrong you had never been in the city, had you?" another servant approved.  
It is true she had never been outside the castle because her father had forbidden her, but now she was curious. But was that a really good idea? After all lately in the city there were been several tumultuous due to the rising taxes. Was it really safe for her?  
But the fate wanted that, after minutes of reassurances, the princess, dressed as a servant, went in the city.  
But let's see what happened in the near forest where two people were traveling: the prince and his retainer. "Aren't you jealous, Basil? I'm going to meet my fiancèe, one of the most beautiful, they say" the prince bragged and Basil answered:"I'm happy for you, my prince, but as you should know I'm not interested in women". The prince looked at him perplexed:"Oh... Really? Since when?", "Since I was a child, sir" Basil sighed again. The retainer asked why, between all the servants, he was chosen to stay with the prince. His father, the king, demanded to Florian to stay at the court until the agreement for the marriage was settled. Probably he commanded so to not see the son's face for a while: he even gave them a large amount of money.  
"This forest is really beautiful: when I'll be the king I'll organize a hunting tournament every year" spoke the prince, "The voices say this forest is haunted by bandits. I don't know if this is the proper place, sir" the retainer corrected him. Florian laughed:"Luckily we are alone, Basil".  
But at that moment they heard a rustle amongst the brushes.  
Florian, terrified, had the goosebumps, but tried to keep the voice steady as he asked Basil: "Tell me more about these men" and he reported: "They say are tall as trees and cruel as monsters. The bodies of the one who are assaulted had never been found and the kids think the corpses are eaten; but if I may add, sir, I suggest you don't believe in this information. It's all I know".  
A drop of sweat fell along the prince's neck as they heard some whispers and he screamed like a girl, when, a few seconds later, seven six surrounded them. They were higher than them for seventy centimeters and in the hands they held swords.  
"Give us the money you carry or you'll die" threatened one of them. Basil sighed for the third time in five minutes: dealing with these bandits wouldn't have been worst than traveling with the prince right?

A couple of hours later, Basil was forced to recognize that at some point in someone's life, it happens to bump in experiences as terrifying as nightmares and that time had came for him too. He mistakenly thought that following the prince was a challenge sent by God and there wasn't something worst than this, but he was wrong.  
Being be hung upside down, almost naked in the middle of the winter was absolutely worst.  
All happened when, surrounded by the men, the prince had unsheathed the sword and had challenged them to fight. The thieves' movements were been really fast and many of Florian's blows had missed the aim and in a couple of minutes, his sword had flown some meters away. They were been surrounded again when something odd had happened: one of the man's legs had shortened and he had fallen on the back. Florian, had been seen how tall they truly were, started to laugh: was he really being threatened by a bunch of dwarves?  
"Men, or better, half men, I suggest you stop this act here and I'll spare your life!" the prince had proclaimed. The dwarves had looked at each other, then one of them had moved the hand and a rock, falling from above, had hit the two men. The next thing they remembered had been waking up, wearing only underwear, and seeing the other's face.  
"I'm the prince! How do they there to treat me like this?" Florian had protested, "If I were you, your highness, I'd think how to save us, since we will be stuck here until nobody will come and I'm afraid it'd take a while" his retainer had proposed with a tired voice.  
Why this had to happen to him?

Not a faraway, Snow White wondered the same thing. Why this had to happen to her?  
She had been walking in a square when she saw a hight class man demanding to pay more tasses to the crowded people. He had stood on a little stage, often used to make announcements, and the princess had understood he was one of his stepmother's retainers, so she had tried to hide in the crowd. But when he had grabbed an elderly's hair because she didn't have enough money, Snow White had pushed him away. His reaction had been more violent than she'd expected: the man had tugged her arm: his grip had been strong enough to leave a bruise on the skin and a moan for the pain escaped from the mouth.  
"My, my this is really an awful situation, isn't it" a stranger had said as he walked towards them. He had been tall and the princess had never seen a skin pale, but what surprised her the most it had been his long white hair, tied up in a braid, and the strange pointed hat on the head. Was he a foreigner?  
"Aren't you too old the dress up in this way?" the man had taunted him, "My clothes aren't your business. Now you'll let go the girl, alright?" and the foreigner had put a hand on the man's shoulder. Surprisingly, the man had let her go and the stranger had taken her hand and they had moved away from the crowd.  
Luckily she was no more in danger.  
Snow White thanked him: "Thank you for saving me, sir...", "Solomon, call me Solomon" he introduced himself. They walked for the streets for a while as they chatted.  
"Are you a foreigner? I have no intention to offend you, but your clothes are really odd for this Country. Do you arrive from the est?" she asked and the magician answered: "Not really, I have wandered for some years in this city. What about you? You looked a bit puzzled in the citadel earlier". Snow White blushed a bit embarrassed: "A kind of. I don't go out very often because my father doesn't want to". And he didn't ask her anything, as he already knew the reason.  
After a while the princess looked around herself a bit confused: she was lost. Solomon chuckled:"Don't worry, princess, the castle is for this way: just walk straight and you'll arrive. See you soon"  
She gasped, hearing his words, but when she turned to ask him how did he know, he was no longer there. How did he...?  
Surely your parents had told you at least once to don't follow strangers' suggestions. But nobody had never told Snow White about trusting strangers, so found herself lost (again) in the woods. She looked around to understand which path she had taken before, but all the directions seemed the same. She sighed, asking herself why did she give her trust to a stranger.  
Suddenly she heard someone asking for help and she found two men upside down. Why did they wear only underwear in the middle of the winter?  
"Thank God, we finally find someone in this forest. Miss, could you please help us?" asked one of them. "Y-yes, sure, sorry" responded Snow White after a while. For some reason, when she gazed in the prince's eyes, she felt something inside her. Was maybe the flash of love that hits every princess when they meet their prince or was the suggestion to don't trust again a stranger (especially if they wore only underwear)?


	3. The quiet before the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is short and boring, but the next will be better, I promise ;)

I would describe him with only a word: a troublemaker. But I'd like you could make your own idea about this character, already met twice since the start of this story.  
Solomon was a mage that lived in this world for two hundred years. Since he was born, he had always isolated himself from the others and he had spent his time reading, increasing always more the acknowledge about magic. In that long period of time, all spent in the loneliness, he had developed an almost scientific curiosity towards humans: he studied them and observed their behavior in various situations. Sometimes he fulfilled their desires, but only when he sensed the consequences of his actions would have brought to very interesting developments -capricious child!  
Even if he was a very powerful magician, his magic had limits: to his dismay, he had never owned the foresight. That was definitely a shame because if he only had known what was going to happen to him, he would have never lent her one of his books. Twenty years ago he gave to Grimhilde his book without asking something back: he was sure that if the woman could have even only one four of his magic, she would have created a nice show to him.  
For how much he acted as a man, Solomon was nothing but a boy, sometimes naive, and soon he was going to be in trouble for his actions.

But as we lovely talk about Solomon, Snow White, Florian e Basil were almost arrived at the palace, luckily without any accidents. During the journey, the prince -under the dejected look of his retainer- had introduced himself as the prince, telling to the girl how bravely he fought against the robbers, making it sound like an epic tale. Basil saved the princess from the torture asking her to introduce herself. The girl muttered confusingly something about being the maid of the princess and the men believed her lie.   
At some point, Florian complained about not being the slightest interested in marrying a woman he had never known and Snow White remarked that the princess didn’t agree to the marriage either. And Basil sighed for the umpteenth time when the discussion changed direction, turning in a match in which won who offended the other more.  
When they arrived at the castle, the girl left them at the entrance of the council room as she went into the kitchen to change, complaining with the maids about how hateful was her future husband. And as they waited for the king and the queen, Basil resentfully gazed at the prince convinced that if he didn’t fight with the girl, at that time the both of them could have been more dressed. A few moments later, Grimhilde entered in the room explaining the king fell suddenly ill and couldn’t be there.   
As Grimhilde welcomed the two hosts in the castle, the prince couldn’t tear the gaze away from her shape. The queen, thanks to the pact made with Solomon, had reduced the passing of the time, in this way she looked thirty years old.   
Honestly speaking, she was a beautiful woman: her face perfectly shaped was embellished by eyes blue as much as they see. Her lips were more plump than the average and the curly blond hair was always tied up.  
Florian could feel his heart beating faster than usual as he studied her figure. In his Country many people talked about the beauty of the princess, but he was sure nothing could win the woman before his eyes.   
When the queen finished talking, the prince started to speak:“I hope you will forgive us for this pitiful appearance, but along the way we were assaulted by ferocious bandits that stole our money and belongings. We would really grateful to his majesty if you can give us something to wear”, “Of course, now will arrive the tailor so he can create fitting clothes for both you” answered the queen.  
A couple of hours later, Florian was walking in the garden and, gazing through the window, he saw the girl that helped him earlier. But this time she wore clothes more refined and noble than earlier and he remembered the gossips heard in his palace: the princess had beautiful black hair and her skin was pale as much as the snow… even the eyes were gold! How he couldn’t understand her true identity? He even insulted her, judging her capricious.  
He had to ask for forgiveness.  
He knocked at the window and the princess made a surprised face when she saw him. “This time I see you are clothed” she joked and Florian giggled:”Yes, luckily in this castle there aren’t bandits. I want to apologize for what I said earlier: I was very rude towards the girl who saved me”. Snow White didn’t expect he apologizes, but she forgave him as well. ”Please, forgive me too. I didn’t have the right to offend you in this way” she said and the prince smiled back. Maybe the other wasn’t rude as they thought, both of them reconsidered.


	4. Twice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The poor Snow White is forced to escape from the palace an meet the dwarves

Grimhilde was proud of how her plan carried on: she had started to poison her husband a couple of months ago and the effects showed up the day in which Florian had arrived at the castle. Now it occurred just a little dosage to kill definitely the king. She was in the kitchen, brewing the tea for the king, and she poured an ampoule full of poison in the cup. Then she brought the tea to the king’s chambers.   
When she was sure the queen was afar, Snow White went out from her hideout with the hands on the mouth for the dread.  
As, a couple of days ago, she had returned to the castle, the maids told her that, when she was away, her father had collapsed. She had went in his room to see him and there she had found the doctor who explained to her he didn’t know what illness weakened the king. The fear of losing her father gripped her heart.  
That day she went to the kitchen to speak with the cook, but when she heard steps coming in that direction, she hid beneath the furniture and she saw everything.  
What could she do now she knew her plan? The first thing that came in her mind was speaking with a trusted person. She summoned Margaret in her room and confessed what she saw earlier, showing her the vial of poison.  
The fate wanted that, right at that moment, Florian, who lost his way for the garden, walked in front of Snow White’s room. It was misfortune, but he heard “the king was poisoned by the venom inside this” and when he peeked inside the room, she saw the princess holding a small ampoule. He had spoken a few times with Snow White since the day they had arrived in the castle, but from what he thought of her she wasn’t a bad person. But now… He wasn’t so sure of his judgment.  
As soon as Florian requested to spoke with the queen about the king’s wealth, Grimhilde became nervous, fearing her plan had been discovered, but when she understood the prince misunderstood everything, she thought this could be used to her favor. She planned to rid off of Snow White with the marriage, but the accuse of killing her own father was even better.  
A few hours later Grimhilde’s plane was ready. During the dinner, in front of everyone, a maid, whose duty was clean the chambers, run towards the queen and handed her the vial. She whispered something in her ear e Grimhilde called everyone’s attention.  
”All of us know the king couldn’t be here with us due to sickness. We taught it was a sudden illness, but the maid discovered this ampoule hidden in Snow White’s room. The doctor told me strictly confidentially that the king showed symptoms of poisoning and know we find out the princess was trying to kill him”. “Why should I kill my father when I’m not interested in the ruling? I’ve been framed. I’m innocent, I swear!” the princess protested.  
At that point, Florian spoke:”I trusted in you, I thought you were a kind person and I was resigned to marry you even if I love another woman. But now that I discover your plan I don’t want to see you anymore. I heard myself you talking with your maid about the poison and you even own the vial. How can I trust you when you declare yourself innocent?”  
“Is true. I spoke with Margaret about the poison and the ampoule was in my room” she admitted, “But it’s not how you think: I discovered my father had been poisoned and I spoke with her about this. Call Margaret, let come here, and she will tell you the same things”. “There’s no need: she is already sent away from the castle” the queen answered her.

Snow White couldn’t believe it. How was possible the situation turned like this? Until a few hours ago she was thinking a way to denounce her step-mother, but now she to be accused.  
She was alone, without the possibility of declaring innocent and being trusted, this why Grimhilde manipulated all the evidence against her.   
“I’ve been framed, I swear. I’d never hurt my father!” she screamed her innocence until the guards, summoned by the queen, brought her in jail. The rage felt earlier vanished and a unbearable sadness overcame her. She cried until she fell asleep.

The moon shone high in the sky when she opened the eyes. She heard a whisper. Someone was calling her. The girl rubbed the eyes and a male retainer opened the lock with a key. “I know you didn’t poison the king, princess, you are too kind even to think about it. I’m here to help you to escape from here, but you must be quick. Really soon the guards will find me” he murmured.   
The girl wanted know how was his father, but they heard the footstep coming closer, so she grabbed his hand. The retainer led her through the dungeons, but they stopped when their fugue was arrested by a wall. “Don’t worry princess” he reassured her and as he pulled down a torch. Before her eyes, the wall opened in a secret tunnel. Not thinking twice, she entered inside and run. The princess found herself in the square she was a few days ago. She looked behind there, towards the castle, and she promised she will return there, then she left the city.

……….

My, my, what a dreadful situation happens to this poor girl. Thought Solomon when he saw the girl on the ground. She escaped from the castle some hours ago and probably she had run without catching breath until she fainted for effort.  
He glared at the girl for a second, then he decided to help her and he lifted her on his broom. Solomon knew someone who could help her and he brought her to them. The relationship between him and them was a bit cold -the correct expression would be they despised him from the bottom of the hearts-, but they weren’t so cruel to forsake an innocent girl in a forest with wild beasts.  
“You are very lucky, you know? Is the second time I save you without asking something back in return” he talked to her sleep form. He started to think that was destiny he met her every time she was in trouble and he was sure they would have met again.  
He left her close to a house and knocked on the door. As a dwarf opened the door, the magician vanished in the air: it was better for her if the dwarves didn’t see them together.  
The dwarves named Asmodeus opened the door and called the others as he saw a young, beautiful laying on the ground. “What did happen?” wondered Grumpy, “A sleepy girl is here. Probably she is in trouble: we should help her” answered Doc. “Whatever, I don’t care. I go to sleep” commented Sleepy, “I think we should help her: she’s defenseless against the beasts“ said Dopey. ”Why we should help her? We don’t have enough money for us!” protested Bashful. “I think we should vote about it” proposed Sneeze.  
All the brothers agreed to his words and, after the votation -six hands up for help her and two for ignoring her-, they brought the girl inside.


	5. A new home

When Snow White opened her eyes, she laid on the ground in an unknown home. The last thing she remembered was running as fast as she could, with no rest: her muscles were on fire and she was more exhausted each minute passing, until she passed out. Did someone save her?  
She noticed there was something strange in that place: the building was made for a human, but the furniture inside was too small for an adult.  
She heard footsteps outside and she understood the owners of the house arrived at home. Not knowing who they were, she closed the eyes, hoping that no one noticed her acting. “I’m so hungry today. I would eat anything, even Bashful’s cooking” he groaned one of them as he laid on the bed, “Hey, my cooking is not as horrible as you think! And you could eat everything, Dopey” protested Bashful. “I put the loot in the warehouse, Grumpy” another voice said and Grumpy scolded him:”Are you crazy? Don’t say these things when we are not alone!”.  
Loot? The blood froze in her veins as she understood where she was and who were her “saviours”. The best idea was waiting again they were out, then she would have sneaked away. They hadn’t to know her true identity, otherwise, they would have asked for a ransom to the queen and she would have discovered where she was.  
“She sleeps and she looks quite harmless to me, Grumpy. You are too paranoid” answered someone else as he came close to her, “and she is quite fluffy”. And his head leaned on her belly, falling asleep. “Seriously? Sleepy is already in the land of the dream…” complained Bashful. “But Sleepy is not wrong, look… she is still asleep” said another one.   
In the air there was a good smell of food. “I think we can talk about her after eating” proposed Dopey and they sat around a table. “This is so good, thank you Sneezy” one of them thanked, “This is so much better than Bashful’s cooking” agreed Grumpy. “Stop bullying me and offending my skills” protested him.  
“Hey, stop eating! Spare some food for Sleepy and the young lady” someone scolded Dopey, “Please, Doc, don’t take away my reason for living” he begged.  
“Who do you think is this girl? Yesterday, when we found her, it was dark so I didn’t give much attention, but now I recognize her clothing: she comes from the nobility, just like us” commented Doc as he studied her. “We have been in the court until five years ago. Happy was the most popular of us, maybe he can recognize her” said Sneezy. “I know all the nobles and their daughters, but I have never seen her” Happy answered.   
Snow White felt a cold blade on her neck and Sleepy asked:“Why don’t we ask her?”, “Sleepy, I thought you fall asleep!” exclaimed Bashful. “This girl is faking: she was awake since we entered at home. I felt it by her heartbeat” he continued, “If what Sleepy is true, I suggest you to open your eyes and speak” threatened Grumpy.  
She gave up her act:”Okay, I wasn’t asleep, but please, don’t harm me. I won’t tell anyone about you”. “First, answer to this question: who are you and why you were in the forest in the middle of the night ” asked Doc. Snow White thought a few seconds about what answer, then told them the truth. “I told you the truth, now can you please remove that dagger from my neck?” she demanded and the dwarves put away the blade”. “What are you going to do with me?” she questioned and the dwarves gathered themself in a circle as they spoke.  
After some minutes they cleared their minds about what to do. “We have decided to keep you here with us: you will prepare the meal and you’ll do the housework we are away. On one hand w,e are thieves, not killers so killing you had never been an option, but on the other, we can’t let you go out. You know too much about us. I hope you can understand” said Dopey.  
Snow White though this was the best option after all: hidden in the forest, no one could find her and she was alive, far away from the evil stepmother and she had a place to live safely.  
“I accept your condition. You know a lot about me, but I don’t know you” she said and the dwarves introduced themself. They were seven brothers: the eldest was Grumpy, the second born was Bashful, the third born was Sneezy, the fourth born was Doc, the fifth born was Happy and there were the twins Dopey and Sleepy.  
“Are you really born with these strange names?” she asked and one of them answered:”No, we aren’t. I know is hard to believe, but we were noble just like you and we had a different name and these were our nicknames, but we chose them as names once we became like this”.  
She wanted to ask what happened to them, but the pained looks in their eyes restrained her.  
She got used to her new life pretty soon and, even if she struggled doing the chores, she tried to do her best. The dwarves left home every morning and returned when it was almost sunset. During the day she cleaned the house, cooked the meals and she went into the forest to hunt small animals and picked herbs and mushrooms.  
A day, when she tried to hunt a rabbit with bow and arrows, she hurt herself and the wounds bled. Snow White ripped off her dress and used the cloth to stop the bleeding, but the knot wasn’t too tight so it fell as she walked home.  
I suppose you are wondering why I give a lot of importance to this detail, but don’t be afraid: all will be more clear later.  
The dwarves, seeing her bleeding, were worried, but she explained to them it was just a small injure, nothing to be worried about. “You are so clumsy! How did you get injured? I trained you personally” Bashful scolded her, “Then is a miracle if her arm is still attached to the body” retorted Sneezy. Happy’s face was in a pure horror mask:”How could you ruin that beautiful dress?”, “I’m sorry, Happy. I know you chose the design for it, but I used it to stop my bleeding” she asked forgiveness. “It still hurts?” Grumpy wondered and she denied it, “Good, because in the next week I need you to go to the near city. Once in a month, on the fourth week, we give part of our loot at a merchant and he gives it to the poorest people in the kingdom”.  
She nodded, not knowing what would happen in the city.  
Since her escape had been passed three weeks.


	6. At the small shop

Once in the city, Snow White went in the shop that the dwarves had pointed before. The shop was located on the corner of the intersection and the space used to sell the fruits and the vegetable was little, but somehow there most of the seasonal fruit was present. At the counter there was a man, more or less around forty years old. The black hair had some white bangs and his face showed signs of fatigue. The curious eyes looked around as he awaited someone. The man talked to her:”Are you going to buy something, miss?”. The girl was uncertain about what to say: the dwarves hadn’t explained to her how to behave. “No, I’m not. The dwarves have sent me here” answered hoping to say the right thing. The man looked suspiciously around and told her to enter from the secondary entrance that was a few meters away.  
“I didn’t know the brothers had a girl working with them” he welcomed her inside the shop. As she expected, the inner part of the store wasn’t very huge and probably it worked as a warehouse. The room was slightly lit by the sunlight coming from a small window. “I joined them three weeks ago. I didn’t have anywhere to go and they kindly hosted me” she explained as she placed the coins on a table, but the man didn’t take them: he still was gazing at her. “I have already seen your face somewhere. The fair complexion and the hair black as much as yours are not something someone can easily forget” he thought and the girl hasty denied:”You are probably mistaking me with someone else: I have never been in this kingdom. I may assure you”. But all of her protests were shut down when the man handed her a wanted poster where there was her face painted.   
“That’s why your face is familiar: you are the princess, escaped after poisoning your father” he commented and she answered back:”It’s not true. I’d never kill my father!”. Her mother had been cunning: she had turned the facts to his advantage and now, from the folk’s perspective, she seemed a woman that killed her own father to become queen. ”I believe you. The actual queen is a plague for this kingdom: she taxes us, squeezing our pockets until we don’t even have the money for ourself and spends them for dresses and parties. There are even rumors that she owns magic and thanks to them she made the prince fall for her. She is evil and probably she poisoned the king, so she could marry the rich prince. This country is spoiled by her greed and becoming the queen of a wealthier city is the only way to continue her expensive life. You are the legitimate reigner of this kingdom, princess, so hurry up and take your rightful place in the castle” he encouraged her as he finally took the money.  
Her gaze slipped on another sheet. It was advice for a spring hunt. “A spring hunt? I don’t remember anyone organizing them when I was at the castle” she wondered and he replied:”Is the first time they organize a hunt, probably something important is going to happens and they want to celebrate it. Tell the brothers about this: they will be happy. Usually, when there are this kind of events, the nobles from other countries are invited too”. She nodded and when she was going to go out, he stopped her once again:”Be careful in your route, princess. You are wanted and the reward is really high”. She thanked him for the kind piece of advice.  
The merchant was kind to advise her and Snow White followed his suggestions. But there was something that neither her or him could know: Grimhilde didn’t have allies only amongst the folks, but in the sky too. While she had her way back to the house in the woods, a raven was following her steps. It was a magical beast created by the queen and it was to her command. Once Snow White arrived at her destination, it perched on the branch of a tree, waiting to have more information report.  
During the dinner with the dwarves, she understood the reason why it was going to be a hunt: the king was dead and the queen was going to marry Florian. The marriage was going to happen in a couple of months, soon after her father’s funeral... She started to cry like a crybaby: since the day she had escaped from the castle, she unconsciously knew her father was going to die, yet... her heart shattered in many pieces. Her friends comforted her saying she wasn’t alone because they were with her, but the princess needed some time for herself. She was wiping away her tears when suddenly someone opened the door: it was Solomon. The first thing he said was:”I don’t have anymore my powers".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recently started to write the second work of the fairytale au: the little mermaid :)


	7. Without any power

"What do you mean? Explain yourself better” Snow White asked perplexed. “He’s a magician, Snow White, and he makes come true the people’s wishes, receiving something back” answered Happy with an acrimony that she had never heard in his voice. ”It’s as they say. I use my magic -or better say: I used my magic- to grant people desires. But I can’t do this anymore: my powers are stolen and my house burned, now I’m only a defenseless and homeless human” Solomon agreed. “This is what you deserve after what you did to us” Bashful accused him angrily. Her mind was destabilized by the last events and she was confused: why her friends, always so kind to her, were so hostile to Solomon?   
“Please, someone explain to me why you all have a grudge against him” she demanded and Dopey answered:”Do you remember when, the first night you came here, we told you Happy was particularly popular at parties? Well, years ago we were human, just like you: we were nobles, but our family was in bankruptcy, so our father made a pact with him to let us live better. And when the time of the payment came, our father refused to pay back, so Solomon turned us in dwarves as a punishment”. “We were innocent: the one to punish was our father and not us” added Sleepy. His voice was almost a growl. “I understand why you have a grudge against him, anyone would be, but I don’t understand why he’s here in all the places”. “It’s because you are here. Many years ago, when you weren’t already born, your father asked me to grant his wish. Since he craved having a bride, I created a woman from the soil for him and after some months you were born. I hadn't the time to request the payment from your father before he died, so I do it now: I require your protection. If you will accept me, I’ll remove my spell from the dwarves” he proposed and Snow White, after a small talk with the dwarves, agreed. “Are you able to tell who stole your powers and why?” one of the dwarves asked and Solomon answered with the utter caution, knowing he was walking on a dangerous path and a faux step would have had kicked him out:”I think it has been Grimhilde: many years ago I made a pact with her and I gave a book so she could have accomplished her goal. Back then I didn’t remember the book has a spell that deprives a wizard of his power. I’ve always been a nuisance for her, so she took away my powers and she burned my house so that I couldn’t find a way to get my powers back”. She heard his story until the end, then wondered:”Solomon, if you knew Grimhilde’s wish was becoming queen, why did you help her? Be careful what you answer because I may punch you”, the wizard answered:”The majority of who ask me to be queen or king asks me for a love potion, but she didn’t want a specific way, so I gave her the book. You had no idea of how many problems she gave me”. And when a punch went on the wizard’s face, the dwarves stepped back. ”You gave her a magic book. A magic book in the hands of one of the evilest and ambitious person in the world! What there was wrong with you? If we are in this situation is your fault, yours and the book’s” she yelled at him enraged. “I may assure you, I had no idea: I thought she would have used some different harmlessly method. If I had known what she would have done with that, I would never have given it”. Solomon looked really regretful for his past action, so she tried to calm down: with a bruise on the cheek and without his powers, Solomon looked like a bewildered child. She decided to help him, after all, once he had helped her.  
“Are you sure your magic is utterly gone?” Doc wondered and he nodded:”I’m sure most of them are gone, but something still remains: all I have left, is the ability to sense magical creatures, but only the ones who have a huge amount of powers”. His fingers pointed towards a book on the shelf, but nothing happened. “What are you trying to do? Nothing happens” commented Sneeze, “This is levitation: whoever owns magic is able to make objects float with the mind control, but... I can do neither this” Solomon whispered heartily. The princess made him sit at the table and give him a soup ladle. It wasn’t too much, but the magician was grateful: it was the first time someone was so kind to him. He had always spent the majority of the time alone and when troubles came, he was able to handle them. But now all he had gained disappeared or was against him. He regretted his behaviour, but he would never admit loudly.  
“Why have you still that gloomy expression? You have a new home now, even if it’s temporary” wondered Grumpy, “Let’s give him some time alone: he lost all he had. I can empathize with him” Snow White scolded them and the dwarves, following her suggestion, went to bed as she sat on a chair close to Solomon that was already eating. “Forgive them for their behaviour, they are not as bad as you think. The anger is still fresh for what you did to them, just give them some time and they will forgive you” she spoke, but he shook the head:”I ruined their lives. Would you able to forgive your step-mother for what she’s doing to you?”. She recognized he was right: as she wouldn’t ever forgive Grimhilde, the dwarves would have done the same with him.   
“What do you know about my relationship with my step-mother?” she asked with curiosity, after all, just a small group at the castle knew the dynamics between the two woman. “As I told you before, she gave me a lot of problems. I understood how evil she saw after a while, but it was too late to take back the grimoire. I knew the king had a child and I thought you were in danger since Grimhilde craved the throne: for the first time I felt responsible for my actions and I protected you as I could” he answered. Snow White interrupted him:”So every time I was going to die you saved me… Now all the unexplained things that have happened to me make sense now. I remember when I was ten, Grimhilde lended me a mirror. After I looked at myself in the mirror, I fainted” and Solomon nodded:”Yes, it was a bewitched mirror. It captures the soul of these who reflect themselves. I broke it with a spell”. He continued his previous talk:”I don’t own premonition, but sometimes I have some intuitions. For example, the day we met in the city I had and intuition something interesting was going to happen and I followed my instinct. I knew what was happening to the prince in the forest and I thought that, if he had known you first, he would have fallen in love with you. It’s a perfectly tested model: the prince falls in love with the princess and saves her. But my plan miserably failed since he fell for your step-mother”. Neither she or he recognized the subtle desperation inherent in his words.  
“But luckily I escaped from the castle and somehow I arrived here” she commented and he corrected her:”It wasn’t luck: after you have collapsed, I brought you here, knowing the dwarves would have welcomed you”. Between the two of them fell a pleasant silence: Solomon returned to eat and Snow White though about his words. She didn’t know what to reckon: she blamed him for the current situation and for the dwarves’ condition, but it was thanks to him if she was still alive and had a new family. She called his name, but Bashful’s comment stopped her:”Do you think they are going to kiss?” and Happy continued:”If he continue to flirt with her in this cheese way, I’ll have caries”. Close to them Sleepy grumbled something. Only with these two loudly comments the Moment was broken. Solomon swore in his mind: for the first time he had some time to speake with her and it was ruined by a bunch of petulant dwarves.  
Outside the little home, the raven returned back to its master to share the news he gained. “So Snow White is still alive and had found a shelter in the bandits’ home. I thought the beats had eaten her when she escaped, but that mage saved her. The both of them are a pain in the ass, but at least now he’s harmless with no power: killing them will be easier” Grimhilde’s composure broke as she punched a table. The mage had always been a nuisance, but he was going to die soon. She gazed at the magic book as she created a new plan. First, she would have killed Snow White, then him. There was left a bit of the potion that had killed the kin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Solomon's intuitions are quite tricky. They are random and they can be about both good or things, so every time he sense something is going to happen, he doesn't know its nature and only when the thing happens he knows it. For example, when he met Grimhilde he had one of this intuitions and gave her the grimoire, in fact now he regrets it. One last thing, these intuitions are indipendent from his powers and you will see later


	8. The poisoned hair comb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> my brain: let’s show how snow white’s and Solomon's relationship has improved: they hold hands and they get along pretty well. I’ll find another way to let the queen poisons her  
> my hands: ahahaha, you wanted bitch. They fight)

The month and a half that Grimhilde was waiting so long passed quickly. Snow White went with Solomon where, once, his home stood to see if something had survived to the fire; but the both of them were disappointed: what they found were only smashed bricks on the ground and blackened walls that gave the slightest idea of what would have been his house. The magician sat on the rocks, gazing desolately to the ruins in front of him. He came to regret his actions once again. He had been naive: he had misinterpreted one of his intuitions, trusting the wrong person and that was the result. At that moment he promised to himself that something similar would have never happened again and that he would have had his vengeance on Grimhilde. Seeing the fire of determination burning in his eyes, Snow White decided that she would have done her best to help him. “There is a method so that you can have your powers back?” she asked and he answered:”Yes, there is. It’s nullified the spell, but the grimoire is inside the castle”. “Infiltrating inside the castle would be enough, wouldn’t it? I know every spot and finding Grimhilde’s room will be easy for me” she proposed, but he quickly stopped her:”Perish the thought! We are wanted and every time we go at the city, we risk to be recognized. If they catch us, we’ll be thrown to jail and then killed. I didn’t save you this whole time to see you dying in front of me to have back my powers. We’ll find another way to gain them. Is really kind of you thinking about me, but have you discovered any plan to get your position inside the castle and the court?”. Snow White fidgeted nervously on the spot, not proud at all for what was going to say:”Truth to be told, I’m not sure I want to be a princess again: in order to reign, it’s necessary marrying someone, so that the royal family can continue, but I don’t want marry Florian. And then… you too know what my people reckon about me: I’m a good for nothing, spoiled and useless princess. Even if I would marry someone, they would never support me”.

Some days ago, they went to the city to fulfill the monthly task. The merchant had welcomed them with sparkling and hadn’t said anything about Solomon’s presence, even if he had recognized his figure as one of the wanted posters pinned to the wall. As they went back, they heard a lot of people bad mouthing about the princess: the rumors about the king’s poisoning had spread around and to their eyes, not only she didn’t care about her people, but she also killed her father to inherit the throne. She was a killer and a usurper. Solomon had whispered:”Don’t listen to them: they don’t know what truly happened, but I do. Trust me, after they will know more about you, they will recognize that they were horribly mistaken” . And he took her hand, trying to comfort her. Even if the days passed, she still remembered them and, on her heart, they were as heavy as rocks.

“You too have seen the conditions of misery in which the people find themselves: the merchant said taxes have increased and the people are going to rebel. You are the only one who can dethrone Grimhilde before they arise. In my two hundred years of life, I have seen many revolutions: the folk filled the reigner and killed their sons, they plundered the castles and then they destroyed them. Inside the castle there are the memories of your parents, do you really want to them be destroyed without you moving a finger to prevent it? Think about Florian: he’s an imbecile that fell in love with the wrong woman, but he’s innocent and he is going to be one of the many casualties if you don’t take in your hand the situation” as he spoke, the tone was lauder until he yelled. Snow White fight back with the same angry voice:”Do you think I want a riot to happen? No, I don’t want this! But you don’t have any right to tell me what I have to do and not, since it’s your fault if I’m in this dreadful situation. You don’t know what being a princess means and the responsibilities they carry on: I don’t want to become a queen because I know I won't be up to it and the people will arise against me. In your life you have done nothing but ruin others’ lives through the promise of fulfilling their wishes, you can’t criticize me for my decisions!”. “You are right, even if I have been close to you most of all, I can’t. But let me say this: at least I try to make my situation better, but you are only crying on yourself. Do you want people to change their minds about you? Then do something. Your father would be so disappointed with your cowardly behaviour” he finished hurt by her words and he walked away.

Solomon felt himself a fool: he was going to tell her that he would have been on her side, as long as she would have been needy of him, even to the day of her death, but now… . As he saw her growing, he thought she would have been a capable reigner who cared about her people, but he would have never thought she was such a coward. The disappointment he felt to be ready to stand by his side if only she asked for it, burned in his chest. His intuitions were wrong once again.

Snow white regretted her words when Solomon was already far. Her heart was full of insecurities and anxieties, she feared she wouldn’t have been a good queen as much as her father was and in the fight with Solomon, she had seen her fears materialize. That hurt her and so he did. She retorted back everything she could use to hurt him in the same measure, but now she regretted the outburst. As she walked back, she feared that all the progress made with him would vanish: without her noticing, the magician had become a very important person to her and she was afraid that he now hated her. She busted in tears cursing herself for her stupidity. The only thing she could do was going back and hoping he would have accepted her apologies. At home, she discovered Solomon hadn’t be returned and, as time passed, the door was still close. 

When someone knocked at the door, Snow White she jumped up, thinking it was Solomon, but her hopes crumbled when she saw an old woman. She was short, her hair was grey because of old age and around the eyes there was a thick web of wrinkles. Even if she used a stick to help, the steps were unsteady. “I am looking for refuge for the night: I come from a nearby kingdom and I would like to visit my niece who lives in the city beyond this forest. Would you be kind enough to offer me shelter for the night?” the old woman asked and the princess agreed. The elderly thanked her for her kindness and offered to give her a hand to clean the room, but the princess declined, saying that she needed to recover after a long travel. So the new arrived offered to comb her hair, in return of her kindness and Snow White agreed.   
“I see you look sad. Have you perhaps fought with your husband?” she asked as comb passed among her black strands and the princess answered:”He’s not my husband but someone I care in the same way. We fought a few hours ago and he went to clear his mind outside, but it wasn’t about something serious, so he’ll come back soon”. The slight headache that assailed her since she started to comb her, became fiercer by each brushstroke and her vision was clouding over. “Thank you for brushing my hair, but could you stop? I’m not feeling really okay and I’d like going to lay on the bed” Snow White requested with a feeble voice, but the granny tighten the grip on her and giggled:” My, my, Snow White I don’t know who has taught to say so many lies, but don’t you think is wrong to say these things to the one who raised you for so many years?”.  
The princess gasped, recognizing who was talking. Who she had let enter in the house when she was alone?! She tried to escape, but she collapsed on the floor, the legs too weak to sustain her weight. “You have been a pain in the ass until the very hand, I have to recognize this to you. I had to wait for a suitable situation for you to be alone to get closer and have the chance to strike and now I finally made it! You are on the verge of dying, but don’t worry: your loved magician he’s going to follow you soon” Grimhilde. Her body was no longer capable of moving and she could only see her step-mother as she walked out of the house. _Please, be careful, Solomon. Come and save me as you have always done._ Was her silent plea. Would Solomon have been able to save her even this time or he would have arrived too late?


	9. A princess' insecurities, a princess' strength

It has been hours since the fight with the princess. It was possible seeing in the sky the signs of what would have been a beautiful sunset when he decided to go back. His humor was better than the afternoon, but Snow White’s words still burned in his mind. He had been wrong to treat her so brusquely -especially when he had mentioned her father-, but he wanted her to understand the time to take back what belonged to her had come. As he walked, he thought about what tell to her, but the words froze in the throat when he saw her examine on the floor. As he shook her body, he called her name in a desperate voice, hoping in her awake. The fear of having arrived too late and the feel of guilty for not being there when she needed him most overwhelmed him. A comb for hair fell and as soon as Solomon took it in his hand, he sensed the ominous sensation of black magic and, smelling it, he recognized the magic poison which it was sprinkled: it came from the grimoire given to Grimhilde. He knew by heart every recipe in the book and, as the different components were revealed to his nose, his mind thought about the ingredients for the antidote. Luckily they were easily available, but being a potion it took away a big amount of energy from those who prepared it: the more intense was the desire of those who prepared it, the more power he took away. But he was almost powerless, yet Solomon was ready to lose all of it to have her back; but he didn’t know if the little quantitative of magic he had was enough to save her. Solomon laid her gently on the bed as he awaited the antidote to effect.  
When the dwarves were back and saw the girl unconscious, they asked the wizard what had happened and he answered with a faint voice:”Grimhilde has been here. Snow White and I had a fight today and she went straight at home, instead I preferred being alone for a while. And when I came back I found her so. In her hair I found a poisoned comb, but I was able to create an antidote and now I’m utter powerless”. “But how did she discovered Snow White was here?” asked Sleepy and he answered:”When I entered, I smelled magic. Probably Grimhilde used a potion to change her appearance and Snow White has been fooled. In the last days I saw very often a raven on a branch: I thought he was a normal animal since I didn’t sense any magic from it, but it was a Grimhilde’s spy. If I only had understood it sooner, I’d be more careful to don’t leave her alone”. “There’s something we can do for her?” wondered Grumpy and he shook the head: all they could do was waiting for her awake as inside Snow White’s body happened a battle between Solomon’s last power and her stepmother's black magic.

When the girl opened her eyes, she was in a wood and she couldn’t be able to see anything due to the fog. She didn’t know where she was or how she arrived in that place, but inside her, she sensed she had to be there. To his ears came the cry of a child, deciding to follow that sound, she arrived in a plain where the fog was less dense. “You are finally here. I was waiting for you” a male voice welcomed her, “Father, why are you here and what kind of place is this?” she wondered. “This is your subconscious. After Grimhilde poisoned you, you fell in a deep sleep. You were really close to death, but luckily the antidote has been given to you in time, that’s why you are still alive -more or less. You are in a state of unconsciousness between death and life and if you are going to awaken, it depends on your will. This fog you see is your confusion because you don’t know which path to take. On my left there’s a vulture on a dead animal, instead of on my right there’s a mother with a child in her arms. But know you have to make a decision about your future” he explained. Even if she couldn’t see clearly what her father described, she was able to see the outlines of the figures. “Hold on, how can I choose a path when I don’t know what they symbolize?” she questioned and he answered, retorting the question:”How can you freely choose your future if you know what awaits you? Think about it, Snow White. I’m sure you will find a solution to this enigma, I’ll be here until you will make a decision”.  
Snow White sat on the wet grass and thought for a time that seemed indeterminate. What meaning could have the two imagines in front of her? The vulture was a grim bird, that fed on the dead bodies and it symbolized destruction and bad luck; but the crying child was a symbol of rebirth. They were two different future, one excludes the other. She didn’t know what role she had in this events: she would have brought a grim future to her people, killing them -the vulture and the carcass- or a bright one in which she would have saved the kingdom, bringing a new life? The fog was more dense than earlier, so much that she couldn't see anything, not even the outlines. She didn’t know how much time passed: the trees were thick, they didn’t make pass the slightest light from the sky, so she couldn’t understand if it was day or night. And she didn’t feel the tiredness either. Every second was equal to the same and she could have been there for a few seconds or for years.   
“What troubles you, daughter?” I can sense your mind is clouded by insecurities and because of this, you can’t decide which path to take” her father wondered as he sat close to her and she sighed:”I’m scared, father: I’m afraid I won’t be a good reigner like you and that the people will revolt against me. I’m terrified to face Grimhilde because I fear she will kill the persons close to me, just like I lost you”. And she lost her contain in a desperate cry on the father’s chest that he cuddled her as he caressed her head. “Why don’t you tell me how the kingdom is? It has been a long time since I walked through its streets” the king asked, she answered perplexed, telling how Grimhilde taxed the people, although they already have anything, how the beggars' faces were hollowed out and how the kids and the elderly died for the lack of care. “What does represent the situation you just described to me?” he questioned and she understood. Grimhilde was the vulture, the dead animals were the people; instead she represented the woman with a child in the arms. Now the fog had completely unraveled and she noticed that woman became an old woman with a cane in the free hand. Now she knew what she had to do, but she was still anxious. “Snow White, you see that cane? There will always be someone at your side ready, to support you at the times of need” he reassured her and, the next seconds, he has already vanished just like the fog.   
Now she had only to walk in the direction she decided: she would claim his place as queen. She opened her eyes after a week.

Neither I know the reasons she had that mystical vision: maybe it was only a projection of her unconscious or maybe Solomon’s attempt managed to get a hold on her. 

The sorcerer was woken up by a husky voice that demanded water. The relief flooded him and he took a sigh of happiness: she was still alive. “Snow White, listen… I’m sorry for what I told you during the fight, but…” he started to apologize, but she stopped him:”You were right, Solomon, so no need to apologize. I was anxious for what has happened in the city and I vented everything on you, but know I decided to take back what Grimhilde had stolen from me”. He gazed at her with surprise and pride:”This is the girl I learnt to appreciate” and she kissed her on the cheeks. She blushed for the sudden gesture, but when she was going to ask the meaning, he made her a question:”So, how are we going to dethrone Grimhilde? I have no more power, but I’m ready to fight”.   
As they confabulated in the middle of the day, at the palace, Florian was about to combine a disaster that would have changed the cards on the table.


	10. Clashing magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of the action and the next will be the final conclusion :)

Giving back to the sorcerer his magic, it has been quite easy for Florian: what he had to do was pronouncing Grimhilde’s spell. A shiver ran down Solomon’s back, almost as if he got a shock. “What did happen? Are you okay?” Snow White asked him and he nodded:”I’m not sure, but maybe…”. The fingertips emit small blue electric sparkles. “My… my powers are back” his voice slightly trembled for the surprise and the happiness, “That’s awesome, Solomon” she exclaimed hugging him. But he happy moment didn’t last much: back with his magic, the sorcerer felt also an ominous feeling. “What day is today?” he asked, “Today the court hunts and tomorrow they will celebrate Florian marriage. Why do you ask?” she answered. He didn’t answer immediately, but the princess could see his mind run and after a while, he spoke:”I know it sounds strange, but you have to trust me. I have one of my intuition: I sense you are in danger, you have to left the house as soon as possible”. “Okay, but where I should go? The forest is full of nobles” she complained. Solomon handed a cloak, telling her that she would have been safe with that on, and suggested her to go back to the castle. She didn’t understand what was the matter with him and she wondered if he had gone mad: wasn’t he the one who forbade her to set a foot in the castle. “I know it may sound crazy, but there’s the chance to defy Grimhilde: now she owns magic power just like me and I’m the only one who can fight with her, but if you stay here, you’ll be in danger” he reassured her and he gave her a red apple. “I have a bad feeling about red apples, you know. Why are you giving me this?” she questioned and he smirked:”This will help you to find an ally inside the castle: give this to Florian and you’ll see what will happen”. He put a hand on her cheek, brushing it:”Good luck, Snow White. I’m sure you won’t fail”, “Why this sounds like a farewell?” she questioned. In Solomon’s mind passed thousand of explanations to give her: Grimhilde is going to come here to kill you, she doesn’t know I have regained my magic. I plan to stop her, but I can die. This may be the last time I see you. “It’s just your imagination, now go. Hurry up or it will be useless” he encouraged her and she followed his suggestion, not sure about what was going to happen.  
Snow White acknowledged that the cloak hid her from others: as she walked in the streets, nobody seemed to notice her, even if she was amongst them. Thanks to this, entering in the palace was a joke. She went into the kitchen, taking off the cloak: she was sure that the maids would have helped her and she needed their help. “Snow White! O my God, I thought you were…” a maid yelled surprised and the princess quickly put the hand on her mouth:”Shhhh… Nobody must know I’m here. Can you keep the secret?”. She nodded and she released her going further with her explanation:”I need your help: I can’t tell you the details, but you have to give this apple to Florian. I have to talk with him, but if he sees me, he will call the guards. Please”. The maid agreed:”Yes, I’ll do anything you want, princess”. Five minutes after the maid knocked at Florian’s room with a tray with the cut fruit and behind her stood Snow White covered by the cloak. “I thought you’d like this apple, prince. One of ours retainer took this morning, thinking about you” she told and the prince opened the door. Snow White sneaked inside the room before it was closed. Being alone, he took a bite of the fruit and, after that, it fell on the ground as the prince clenched the head between the hands. Before his eyes fleshed everything: he saw how Grimhilde poisoned the king, blaming the princess, how Snow White escaped from the jail, how she joined to the dwarves and the meeting with Solomon. He sat on the floor for the shock. “Florian, are you ok?” the princess asked and he called for her:”Snow White are you really here or I’m hallucinating? I hear your voice, but I can’t see you”. And she showed up. “Wow… I saw everything that happened to you. I’m sorry if I judged you guilty of killing your father” he apologized and she wondered:”Where is Grimhilde? I didn’t see her”. “She told me she was going to assist to the hunt and she suggested me stay here, so that I could be ready for the marriage” he said and the girl shivered: Solomon was in danger. “Quick, hand me that book!” she exclaimed and the prince gave it to her. Where was the spell that Grimhilde used to take away Solomon’s power? 

Grimhilde was facing Solomon. He had feared that she would have taken advantage of the occasion given by hunt to kill Snow White once for all and so it had been. Luckily she was no more there and if, if everything went according to plan, Florian had already eaten the apple.  
Probably she already understood what was going on and why he wanted her away from the house. He knew right now she was searching a way to help.   
“Why you still have powers? I was sure I had removed them and where is Snow White?” she asked furiously and the wizard smirked:”Someone at the castle should have read the spell. You are so predictable Grimhilde: I suspected you would have come, so I sent the girl away, far from this house. “It doesn’t matter, you will tell me where she is after I defeat you” she growled and he remarked:”Good luck with that. But we exchanged enough pleasantries, don’t we?”. He attacked first, releasing a whirlwind of wind from the hand that sent her against the wall.

“What the Hell is going on?” Florian asked and she responded without giving too much attention:”Solomon sensed Grimhilde was going to take advantage of the hunt to kill me, so he sent me away. In this grimoire there is a spell that can take away the magic from a mage, I just have to find it”. “But you don’t need to have some power to use a spell?” he wondered confused, “It’s a bit complicated but, yes, for the current time I have a few of them” she answered, leafing through the book with ardor.  
Florian sat on a chair:”I can’t believe this is actually happening. Magic, your step-mother trying to kill you, you became bandits… Since I drank that potion I feel like my feeling for Grimhilde has vanished all of sudden”. Snow White remembered Solomon preparing two different potions: he told her that one was used as a contraindication for love filters. But she preferred not telling him anything. “So I suppose you won’t marry her tomorrow” she mumbled and he shivered:”Hell no, I have no intention of marrying a wicked woman like her! I suppose that Basil and I will go back to our kingdom. What are you going to do?”. “If Solomon will defeat Grimhilde, I will claim my legit position in the castle” Snow White said. And I hope Solomon will be at my side.

Grimhilde’s counterattack was quick. Her hands emitted a light beam, but he was skillful to avoid it and the spell created a hole in the wall. The woman attached another time and he defended himself with a magic shield, that was able to hold just another discharge before it broke in many little flakes similar to butterflies. “Come on, defensive mechanisms and frail barriers are everything you can do? You disappoint me” she provoked him and he, with an impetus, brought himself behind her and he sent her outside. She understood that, if she wanted to defy him, she had to use all of her strength. She gathered her power that she released in a dark light. Solomon, who came closer to attack from a short distance, was thrown away. His clothes tore and on his body there were a lot of wounds. “You won’t defeat me, rascal! You are too weak and now perish!” she exclaimed. Solomon realized that there was something wrong: the first time he met Grimhilde, almost twenty years ago, she was a normal human without any powers. He could sense evil magic coming from her, but that was the latent magic present in every human being. Something had to awake it... It was his grimoire or something else?  
Above their heads, the sky had thickened with dark clouds, full of rain, and they were particularly menacing. Solomon lifted the hand towards them and summoned lightning that hit him. “Weaker than you, you say? Let me show you the difference between you and me” he talked back and he stood up again, the eyes shone and his hair was electrical. He gathered its energy in the hands and he threw it against her, but Grimhilde quickly defended herself with the same barrier used by him earlier. Then he cast other nine bolts of a lightning lot more powerful than the first, that broke her defense; but, when the tenth arrived, she stopped it with bare hands. How that was possible? Even him, a quite powerful wizard with two hundred years of training, wasn’t able to do that. Now there were no more doubts: Grimhilde had been trained by someone really powerful, a lot more than him.   
The woman sent back his own spell and Solomon was hit. He crashed against a rock and the impact made him breathless for a second. He tried to stand, but, in a blink of an eye, the queen was on his, blocking his movements. With the smile of someone who already knows that they win, her hands went on his neck, strangling him to death. Solomon cast a last desperate spell that destroyed Grimhilde, dismember her body in many little pieces. He leaned the back on the rock and panted, trying to collect his energies back: he finally defeated her, once for all.  
Behind him, Grimilde’s hand attached itself to the arms and slowly all the pieces went to their own place until her body was completed once again. 

“That’s not possible: why the spell it’s not here?!” Snow White exclaimed with the voice full of agitation and frustration. She browsed the book page by page, but there was no trace of the spell. “Do you mean the spell that Grimhilde used to make Solomon powerless?” Florian wondered, “Yes. It isn’t here! I checked each page, but I didn’t see it. How it’s possible in the word?” the princess passed nervously the hand in the hair. The sky had clouded over, foreshadowing a terrible storm. A shiver ran down her back seeing that bad omen. Florian looked the book’s cover and told her:”Snow White, this isn’t the book with which I gave back the magic to Solomon”. Grimhilde owned two grimoires?   
The princess noticed that there was a message written on the first page. “Look, someone wrote something here. To my student, Grimhilde. You have my gratitude for having free me from the mirror in which my sister had locked me and, for repaying you, I thought you everything I know. It had been twenty years, but now you are a powerful witch, maybe more than me. I know what your ambitions are -becoming queen and kill that child- and as your teacher, I can tell you that you can aspire to much more, but I know you won't listen to me. Now I’m weak and I have no more strengths, I feel my time has come, so I leave to you the task to avenge me. Read this spell to summon my sister in the human world”. She was shocked by what she just read, but she didn’t have the time to think about it. She pronounced the spell written in the black ink and a bright light blinded them.   
“Who dares summon me?” a female voice echoed in the room. Before their eyes, there was a woman, taller than two meters, mantled by an algid light -or better say, made of light-. The spell worked. “Who are you and why I sense my pupil’s magic in the girl?” the witch asked and the princess answered:”I’m Snow White, the princess of this kingdom and Solomon’s friend. Now he’s fighting against Grimhilde, but I fear he will be defeated please, help him!”. The witch didn’t give any sign to having listened to her plea and vanished in a flash. After some seconds they saw red lightning hitting the soil. 

Solomon was facing with horror as Grimhilde's body reassembled itself piece by piece. He was almost without strength when he understood he couldn’t defeat her. Right at that moment, he was hit by red lightning and he felt reborn: the wounds from his body disappeared and his magic was restored. He didn’t know how to explain this, but what was important now was to continue the fight with the woman in front of him. “It seems like our meet it’s not yet ended” she spoke, “Yes, it seems so. Now I will end your life” he talked back.   
The woman was hit to the back by a spell and when she turned he saw another Solomon. “Wha… Did you cloned yourself?!” she asked and he smirked:”Yes, I have aces up my sleeve too. You know, after two hundred years my memory starts to forget things”. A gust of wind -too strong to belong to nature- destroyed the house and eradicated the trees around that broke down on her, but she threw them away. “You are a fool if you think that I can be hurt by trees: I can regenerate, did you forget it?” she laughed, but in the next second she felt a piercing pain on the left arm: taking advantage of her distraction, the clone stabbed her with a dagger, made of red energy, and now her arm was decaying. “In fact, that was a trap in which you completely fell” Solomon answered, “It’s decaying… how it’s possible?” she questioned and he smiled:”When I was hit by that lightning, I heard a voice in my mind that suggested using its electricity to attach you. It worked”. Then the woman launched herself into a desperate series of shots that were promptly dismissed by the original magician. She was almost breathless.  
With an almost derisive movement of the hand, the clone motioned her to attack and she accepted his challenge. Coming closer to him, she cast a barrage of spells at a short distance. “Where were you aiming? I’m right here” he whispered to her ears. With lightning speed, he had voided her attacks and now it was behind her back. The moment in which she realized she had undervalued his speed for the second time was when the other arm was chopped. Solomon thought their match was going to finish, but he recognized he was wrong when he noticed he couldn't move his body. “Ahaha, you thought you were going to kill me, but I can use my powers even without arms. Didn’t they tell you that the magic comes from the brain and that the arms and the wands are the only way of transmission?” she exclaimed proudly. What a capable witch she is to use magic without the arms! He thought.  
“And that’s exactly why I can do this!”. He commanded with his mind to his clone what to do and he did it: coming closer at her back, he put his hands on her temples and released a quantity of electricity that fried her brain. Her body collapsed on the ground while his hands were still emanating red sparks. “You were a good witch: your powers were amazing like few I've seen in my life, but what killed you was your inexperience. You didn’t give enough attention to the background and you didn't notice there was another opponent” he sentenced. With a snap of fingers, the clone disappeared and Solomon fell on the ground too. “Who knew that using a clone was so tiring” he murmured before fainting


	11. It's all well what ends well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I find a fun coincidence that I started this fic on the twin's birthday and I end this on Lucifer's

During the fight between Solomon and Grimhilde a hurricane broke out: the nobles stopped the hunt and the dwarves went back home, not imagining what was just happened there. They were frightened to death when they saw the wizard fainted on the ground, the queen died and the ruins of the house, but they understood what happened during their absence. Florian and Snow White arrived after a few and, as the princess tried to wake up the sorcerer with slaps and shaking his body, the others decided to make disappear Grimhilde’s body. Then they carried Solomon to the castle so that he could receive better cures. The nobles, noticing the queen's absence, explained in front of a very skilled prince in playing the part of the lover desperate for the absence of his beloved how the queen left the group and then nobody had seen her anymore. Probably she was attacked by a wild animal that killed her- after all, for what they knew it was what really happened. Snow White has exonerated from the accusations of poisoning thanks to Margaret’s deposition, which was called back to the castle to prove her innocence, and so she became the reigner of the kingdom. The seven dwarves, not having other places to stay, remained there as an important guest and Florian with Basil went back. All was back to the normality, but Solomon didn’t give any sign of improvement and the doctors didn’t know what was wrong because all seemed fine for them. As soon as the princess was free from her duty, she went to see him, hoping that that was the day in which Solomon opened his eyes; but every day she was disappointed and in her heart grew the fear that he wouldn’t be able to wake up. 

After a month at the castle came a woman who sustained she knew how to heal him and the queen let her enter. The diagnosis was quick: he used all of his powers, drawing on his life force and that was the result. At the question made by Snow White about who she was, she answered she was his teacher. She had been stayed in that room for three days and three nights, ordering that she could save him and she needed to be the only there. The time that Snow White passed with the back against the door, neglecting her duties. At the dawn of the fourth day, the door was opened: it was Solomon. Snow White ran towards him with teary eyes, hugging him so hard that he couldn't even breathe. “You made me sick worry, you idiot!” she exclaimed and he answered:”Sorry, sorry. I didn’t want to. If you are fine with this, I’ll amend staying here with you until you have forgiven me”. “It could take me a long time, so be ready to wait a lot of time” she advised him and the Sorcerer smiled:”I’m ready to wait how long it takes. I love you” he whispered the last part and he kissed her. She had been waiting for this moment for a lot of time, maybe from the first time they met. She didn’t have any idea about how much time passed -seconds, minutes or maybe hours. It didn’t have any importance-, but in his embrace the time seemed to stop and she desired that kiss could never end. That magical moment was interrupted by the coughing of the woman at Solomon’s back. “I have to talk with her” he excused himself and she gave him the privacy they needed.  
She couldn't hear what they were saying, but the woman’s face was a scowl and Solomon had the face of a kid who was being caught as he stole some cookies. What she heard was “thoughtless use of magic” and “what kind of pupil are you?”; then her expression became gentler as she gazed at her. The mage followed her glare and he smiled proudly, explaining something. And, when their talk ended, she vanished in front of them.  
He returned to her and told her what they discussed about:”At first she scolded me for what I did with magic and even added that what happened with Grimhilde it’s what I deserved. Then she told me that you summoned her as I fought with your step-mother, explaining a lot of things that I didn’t understand. Many centuries ago, even before my born, she and her sister had a very serious fight, so she had locked her in the same mirror I mistakenly gave to the queen. It’s easy to understand what happened after: when I broke the glass to save you, I also released the witch and she, thinking, Grimhilde freed her thought her how to awaken her powers. The reason why my attacks alone didn’t work was that the type of magic I used was too different from hers My teacher helped me sending red lightning that transferred her town powers to me: the magic used by her was the same as Grimhilde. What happened after you know too”

Even the dwarves celebrate the fact Solomon was healed and Snow White remembered him their agreement: a place to stay in exchange for returning them to their original form. The wizard apologized:”I’m truly sorry, only after the talk with my teacher I realized my mistakes”. And with a spell they went back to their true aspects and Snow White whistled in appreciation after seeing how much they were good-looking. “What are you going to do now?” she asked and Happy answered:”Probably we’ll go back to our true home -we are nobles after all. And what about you?”. “Now that I’m a queen I have a lot to do: reforms to do, laws to approve and I have a whole economy to adjust, a people to help. I don’t know if I’ll fulfill my goals or not, but I’ll try and I’m sure Solomon will help me in this. And who knows, maybe I’ll have the need for a parliament who’ll assist me” and she winked.   
And this story ends so: the seven brothers help the new reigners with the kingdom and with Snow White and Solomon that get married. I can tell you they were a wonderful couple and that after some years they had two twins and that during their under their government the people increased their richness. And when I tell you this, you must believe me because I was there and I saw everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with a mix of joy and sadness, I finish this story. It didn’t go as I expect: there were a thousand things to say and I said hundreds, I wanted to be more detailed in some scenes, I had to cut a lot of parts; but I’m still satisfied with the result and I hope this made you enjoy during the quarantine :) 
> 
> One of the scenes I eliminated is the explanation of the magic, so let me do it now. In the world I decided to place this story, the magic has different forms:   
> \- type 1: fire  
> \- type 2: water  
> \- type 3: light  
> \- type 4: lightening  
> \- type 5: wind  
> \- type 6: sound  
> \- type 7: “jolly” that change the wizard’s type depending on the opponent. Often this category can regenerate the body of the wizard when it’s damaged.  
> \- type 8: hole, the only type that can win against the seventh type.  
> Who masters a particular type can use complementary magic:   
> \- type 2 (water) - type 6 (sound)  
> \- type 4 (lightening) - type 5 (wind). That’s why Solomon created a hurricane  
> \- type 1 (fire) - type 3 (light)  
> Solomon’s magic belongs to the fifth type, Grimhilde’s and her teacher’s to the seventh and Solomon’s teacher’s to the eighth. if this system is familiar to you, but don't remember where you have already found it: yep, I took inspiration from Magi (in fact Solomon appearance is inspired by Yunan :p )
> 
> One of the characters in which I put more effort was Solomon: I wanted most of all to represent the human being. What sets him apart from other characters is his arrogance: doing favors in exchange for something leads him to think he is better than the others, to the point to reckon he’s untouchable and unreachable. But it is precisely this arrogance that unknowingly brings him to ruin (just like in a Shakespearean tragedy). How many times we too, driven by our defects, make mistakes that then affect us? But sometimes we can understand them and learn the lesson, trying not to make the same mistakes again. Solomon does the same: he made some mistakes, he regrets them and then he tries to don’t do them once again. This happens twice in history: the first is when he regrets giving Grimhilde the library and the second happens when he speaks with his teacher who reproaches him for the reckless use of magic. Now I think I have clarified all the doubts you had (if it wasn't, ask well), I hope you enjoyed this story and if you want to comment, do it -I’d really like what you think-. See you in the story I'm currently writing: the little mermaid :-)


End file.
